This week's issue of the Dryden Courier includes a detailed story on the Village of Dryden's January Board meeting. There's some explanation of the continuation of the multiple unit housing moratorium extension and its future:
Mayor Reba Taylor said Tompkins County Planner Ed Marks questioned the extension, but conceded the village was doing its homework with studies and with and effort to complete a comprehensive plan this year. That plan should be in place to enable village board members to have an informed discussion on what zoning changes might be made in the village.
The Board also passed a law which requires "all cars parked in the village to have legal and adequate inspection stickers and license plates," with a penalty of $50 or 15 days in jail.
The Village Trustees didn't sound very happy about proposals by Assemblyman Jeff Brown to lower taxes for volunteer firefighters. While the Town Board passed a resolution supporting these proposals 4-0 earlier this month - Councilman Mike Hattery abstained - the Village Board and Mayor were much less happy about the prospects:
Taylor said the issue of volunteer recruitment was "very serious" and praised the efforts of local fire fighters. But reducing taxes would hurt, rather than help volunteer fire departments, she said. "There goes the source of income that is supporting their program," Taylor said....
Wakeman said the laws would have to be monitored on the local level, creating, essentially, an unfunded mandate for the local tax collectors. Mayor Taylor said the laws would also be a financial hardship, amounting to a $5,000 reduction in assessed property values for local taxes, which adds up to cuts in local budgets. One bill stipulates a $2,000 tax write off for volunteer firemen on their state taxes.
Robert Witty said even the police chief and the village attorney had to serve on jury duty. "I think there's a better way of recruiting volunteers," he said.
The Dryden School District is looking into ways to reduce the cost of buses. Transportation Director Dave Fuller presented a plan which changes the replacement cycle to maximize state aid and the buses' resale value. There are initial costs, but a much lower long-term cost.
There's an article on Cornell Retired Volunteers in Service (CRVIS), retired Cornell employees who volunteer in school districts including Dryden and Ithaca.
In sports, there's coverage of the Dryden Wrestling Team's performance at Sectionals, where three of the four Dryden wrestlers invited placed.
Posted by simon at February 27, 2005 7:37 AM in Dryden Courier , Village of Dryden , emergency services , planning and zoning , schools (Dryden) , volunteers